Abstract
Eusocial insect societies are fundamentally non-egalitarian. The reproductive caste 'wins'in terms of resource accumulation, whereas non-reproductive workers 'lose'. Here, we argue that the division of labor among workers is also organized by nutritional inequalities. Across vastly different social systems and a variety of hymenopteran species, there is a recurrent pattern of lean foragers and corpulent nest workers. Experimental manipulations confirm causal associations between nutritional differences, associated molecular pathways, and behavioral roles in insect societies. The comparative and functional genomic data suggest thata conserved toolkit of core metabolic, nutrient storage, and signaling genes has evolved to regulatethesocial insect division of labor. Thus, theunequal distribution of food resources can be considered a fundamental organizing factor in the social insect division of labor.
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